Public Finance for Social Protection Analysts
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Online
Public Finance for Social Protection Analysts
5 Octubre–20 Noviembre 2026
Presentación del curso
Many countries across the globe are increasingly recognising the contribution that social protection systems make to sustainable economic and social development. Yet a central challenge remains how to finance such systems in in the context of a diverse array of other priorities for government spending at a national level. By bringing together the worlds of public finance and of social protection, this course aims to equip social protection and public finance practitioners with the practical skills to assess financing options for social protection and develop tailored country financing plans.
¿Quiénes participan en este curso?
The course is designed for both social protection practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding of public finance and public finance professionals seeking to understand the specific considerations necessary for social protection financing. Typical participants would be professionals from government ministries, social security institutions, social partners, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, research institutes and consultancy firms. Participants should hold bachelor or advanced degrees and have a solid quantitative background.
What topics does this course cover?
- Taxation and revenue collection: trends and policy choices
- The Public Financial Management (PFM) cycle
- Reading and assessing national budgets, including classifying and interpreting social protection expenditure
- Assessment of social protection gaps
- Contribution financing of social protection
- Costing tax-financed social protection schemes
- Creation of fiscal space for social protection
- Assessing value for money
- The political economy of social protection financing
- Development of medium term financing strategies
While the course covers some exploration of contribution finance of social protection, the focus is on schemes financed by general revenues.
What will I be able to do?
- Assess the public finance context in terms of revenue collection, government expenditure and the PFM cycle
- Develop a compelling business case for investment in social protection to be fed into the national budget cycle
- Produce costed medium-term plans outlining core priorities for social protection system expansion and reform.
Why should I join?
- Put learning into practice through an Integrated Applied Exercise focused on your own national context
- Participants join and interact with a diverse network of professionals engaging in issues of social protection financing
- The course uses a mix of training methods: lectures, plenary discussions, good practices, case studies, group work, and individual exercises.
- Take a step towards achieving the ITCILO Diploma for Social Protection, a new accreditation for the next generation of social protection practitioners.
This course is eligible for the Diploma For Social Protection Analysts. To achieve the Diploma, successful candidates must complete three courses within a five year period, and undertake a capstone assessment.
How?
The course consists of a number of online modules offered through the eCampus online platform to be completed over a period of seven weeks for an estimated total of 100 learning hours.
- Pre-course: Flexible (asynchronous) self-guided online learning on eCampus and an end of phase assessment.
- ‘Real time’ learning: Live interactive sessions and engaging video presentations by highly experienced trainers, blended with individual and collaborative group exercises, peer-to peer assessment and online technical forums on eCampus.
- End of course assignment: Individual assignment applying cutting-edge technical knowledge to the participants’ organization. Participants who successfully complete all assessments and the final assignment will receive a Certificate of Achievement.
